The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, is a federal freedom of information law that requires the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government upon request. 

Various federal statutes establish open meeting requirements for federal agencies. Agencies may publish notices of upcoming meetings and hearings in the Federal Register. 

The Federal Advisory Committee Act, which became law in 1972, applies to government committees that advise the President and executive agencies on specific matters. Most federal agencies are subject to the open meeting provisions of the Government in the Sunshine Act, passed in 1976. This law requires “every portion of every meeting of an agency [to] be open to public observation.” The exemptions to this requirement are similar to those found in FOIA, such as national defense, internal agency matters, and matters covered by privacy statutes.  

Other important federal open records statutes include the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, which requires the disclosure of certain public officials’ financial and employment history, and the Presidential Records Act of 1978, which mandates the preservation of official presidential records and makes most of them available through FOIA. (Please keep in mind, each state also has their own versions of Open Meetings Acts and Freedom of Information Acts.)

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